Movie: The Ghostwriter

The Ghostwriter is a political thriller by Roman Polanski, starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, and Olivia Williams.  Ewan plays the ghostwriter, who is supposed to finish the memoirs of the former prime minister of UK, Adam Lang.  Lang is now involved in a political scandal of alleging turning over prisoners to the CIA for torturing and questioning.  Furthermore, Lang's previous ghostwriter committed suicide another suspicious circumstances.  Despite the extremely good job offer, Ewan's character starts to suspect a larger conspiracy going on as he continues to dig deeper and unravel the inconsistencies of the existing manuscripts.


Polanski is again the master of creating a suspenseful and eerie mood, reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby and The Ninth Gate.   While those two films involve supernatural beings, here it is completely human.  Ewan's portrayal of the confusion of the titular character is great - as are we, as the story unfolds through his eyes.  Pierce Brosnan's prime minister is bold and cocky, trying to enjoy the comfortable life after stepping down.  Kim Cattrall's character as Lang's assistant is, amusing to say the least, forging a British accent.  Another great surprise was Olivia Williams as Lang's witty but neglected wife.  I hardly recognize her, since her appearance in An Education was much different here.  Polanski's keeps the action at a minimum and the suspense at a maximum, showing his true craftsmanship as opposed to other mainstream Hollywood flicks.  The pace is decidedly slower, so make sure you come in with a very different mindset and enough patience.  You will surely appreciate the more intricate workings of this film.

「獵殺幽靈寫手」是波蘭斯基導演的政治懸疑驚悚片，在講一位幽靈寫手(專為他人代筆的作家)(伊旺麥奎格)拿到一份酬勞高的工作，可為前英國首相撰寫回憶錄。原本以為是千載難逢的好機會，但慢慢發現其中有一些不可告人的秘密。一來，前一為ghostwriter在離奇場合下自殺，而二來，前首相被揭發在任內，不當地將犯人交給美國中情局做逼供用，已涉及不法，恐要被國際法庭起訴。在慢慢整理前一為作家的原稿時，他開始瞭解真象~~~ 

許多人可能會覺得電影長度過長，而且步調慢，不過這正是波蘭斯基大導的風格。他所製造出來的懸疑片，裡面動作場面是不多的，使觀眾一直在期待接下來會發生的事。如看過他幾年前所導的「鬼上門」，1968的經典恐怖片「失嬰記」，和1974的最佳影片「唐人街」，就應該會知道。透過伊旺麥奎格的角度，觀眾也是一開始在狀況外，慢慢熟悉整個事件背後的大陰謀。不知道為什麼，心中一直感覺這些英國演員，專業又敬業，演什麼像什麼。裡面唯有「慾望城市」的金凱特羅，因為慾望城市的角色太有名了，所以看她演別的都不習慣了。但，她肯做嘗試，並還要學英國口音，應該是要鼓勵的吧。倒是Olivia Williams的人物，和她在之前介紹過的「名媛教育」的造型實在差別太大，一開始是認不出來的。總而言之，如帶著足夠的耐心與不同於一般大眾好萊塢片的心態來看這部片，那這部片是相當值得欣賞的電影。